This year was like... mad confusing. The majority of it had been better than any other year at Hogwarts, but Ash somehow felt worse than ever. Mmm. Maybe she should go to therapy like her friends Mamie had suggested. Maybe.

For the time being though, she felt fine. Fine, but very hungry. That was no surprise. The mirror was only two months, but it felt like forever, and she didn't need to eat at all then. She had to remind herself now... No wonder she was hungry. Technically, the feast wasn't started, but Ash sneakily ate a granola bar from her pocket and vanished the evidence. Nobody could object to her eating a granola bar, and even if they did, she didn't care and they couldn't prove it. Ha.

She pulled out her notebook and drew VERY rough sketches of the things around her. There was no law against sketchbooks at feasts. Not according to Ashley anyway.

It was end of term, and yet Evan felt like he was more on edge than he'd been all year. It was a trauma response, of that he was sure, but still it's like his entire being was waiting for the other foot to drop. The term had been... complicated, sure, and busy with all of the play preparations. A play which had gone quite well once the fake!Healer had been dealt with. But even with all of the therapy and the Poppy shenanigans... well the term had been quite. Something of which he was entirely grateful for. ENTIRELY. And yet still couldn't help but be suspicious of.

He just hoped the last meal and getting on the train went as smooth.

Making his way to the Ravenclaw table, Evan found a spot near Ash and slid into the seat next to her, offering a small smile although she appeared to be already engaged with her sketchbook. "Hi." He offered a fairly quiet greeting, in case she didn't want to be disturbed, while he settled into his seat and eyed the rest of the tables, his stomach giving a small grumble.

Her fourth year was coming to a close. It had been an eventful term for her - an overall good kind of eventful, outside of Healer Poppy's antics. Ivy might not have thought too negatively of her in the beginning. Despite disagreeing with her methods, especially once the calming draught candles were revealed, it had seemed like the Healer's heart was in the right place.

But then she'd tried to ruin the play. And that ruined any good will Ivy might have had for her.

Fortunately, they'd still managed to perform. And it'd been awesome. And she was hopeful they would do another one next term.

But before that, summer! She was very ready for the holidays. And it was better to focus on that than dwelling too much on what next term would bring.

Slipping into an empty seat across from Ash and Evan, she offered them a smile. "Hey! You both ready for the summer?"

Ash looked up at Evan. Since Lisa was totally her little sister, that totally made Evan her brother. But she didn’t mention that, because love was not an emotion she knew how to/wanted to express. And thinking of people like they were your siblings was weird. Instead she just held up her sketchbook and smiled. Did he recognize it? It was his birthday present to her.

“Hi.” Did she want to be disturbed? Eh. But it was Evan so it was alright. He was cool. Ivy- she was cool too. Ash smiled at her too, as best she could. ‘As best she could’ wasn’t very good, but at least she was trying, yeah? “I’m ready for this summer. I’m gonna see Brandon and Theodore, I’m gonna meet this ‘Charlie’ and this ‘Megan’ that I’ve heard about, and!!! I’m gonna go surfing.” Her smile, which had temporarily vanished, returned in full force. “I’d like to invite some Hogwarts kids over. To my house probably.” That would be nice. She paused. “I’ve been thinking of finally going to therapy...” Her friend had shown her how to contact his therapist, soooo... maybe she’d do it. Maybe. “I wish the feast would start. I forgot to eat breakfast and lunch today.” Sigh. She could have had yogurt with fruit in it. Missed opportunity. She doodled some food in the sketchbook. It was NOT the same. “What are you doing this summer?”

She couldn’t believe her first year at Hogwarts was practically in the books already. She had barely dipped her toes into the pool of magic and the girl wanted more. She didn’t want to return to the Muggle life over the summer and struggle not to use magic. No wonder Noah had looked so upset after his first few years away. However, it would be nice to see her family again and sleep next door to Maya. It’d be different this year returning home because she’d have a quick overlap with Noah before he went off to Uni and left his younger siblings behind permanently. At least, she still had Maya and Evan and Solana too but Solana wasn’t at home anymore. She’d send her a note for sure. ;_;

Ultimately she wasn’t ready to leave. And she was so glad to have a six years ahead of her. Six years with friends and best friends and enemies and more! It was all so exciting! Six years to mess with her Head of House too

So as she entered the Great Hall, the youngest Nam decided to plaster a smile to her face. Her eyes flicked across the Hall, spotting a few of her friends at over tables before she turned her gaze towards the Ravenclaw House Table. Ash, Ivy, and Evan all were there! Her brother and FRIENDS! Lisa made a beeline for the table and slipped into an open seat near them. Where was Misa? And Lia? Hopefully they’d stop by soonish. She didn’t know how term feasts happened but if it was similar to the start of term, then there had to be a speech yeah? Something about wishing seventh years luck and whatnot? Ooh! Wasnt there a BOOK for seventh years? Maybe she ought to go find her brother’s entry or his girlfriend’s. Or Minjae’s entry too! Buuuut she’d leave that for a future Lisa investigation. Right now she wanted to be with her housemates.

“Hello! No sign of bread near right? I say the first sign of bread, we burn it,” she joked, sending a secretive smile towards Ash, knowing that she was a fellow firecracker. To Ivy, she gave her the most Tootles’ salute ever. “Hello Pan. Reporting for duty. What’s our objective?!” And then she side hugged her brother. “Ready to go home, friends?”

It wasn't long after he'd settled that Ivy approached as well, sitting across from them and Evan offered her a small smile. Was he ready for summer? He actually wasn't sure. He'd managed to avoid a conversation he didn't want to have for an entire year and yet... summer meant there was no excuses. He'd been actually dreading summer for this reason. And unsure of how being home with his parents would be after what a disaster the previous was.

But there were good things about summer too. The best things too if they really would let him get his own kitten to bring to school with him next term. "Pretty ready. What about you? Any fun plans?"

His attention reverted to Ash, and he did smile when she held up her sketchbook, glad to see it was the one he'd gifted her and that it was of good use to her. And then she was telling them about her summer plans, and while he recognized the first few names from her having mentioned them before, but he wasn't sure who the second two were. "Charlie and Megan???" But surfing sounded like a lot of fun and therapy probably wasn't a bad idea either. For any of them. Honestly, it'd been the right idea for them to have a healer designated for their emotional states. They just needed to hire better. "Do you already have a therapist? Our mom is a muggle therapist and she would probably have some recommendations." If Ash didn't want to talk to someone that close. "I could definitely eat. I hope it's not too long of a speech." End of term though seemed to be when the Professor's were as anxious to get home to their families as everyone else though. "I'm going to Korea with my cousin." And probably camping. And hopefully still to Scamander zoo with Dahlia.

And then there was his spitfire little sister approaching as well, and Evan smiled at her too as she settled. He chuckled a bit at the bread comment, but his stomach rumbled at the thought of food as well. "I'll eat whatever shows up on the table." Bread included. Besides, it hadn't been the breads fault! And as terrible as she had been, Healer Poppy sure knew her bread recipes. He returned his sister's hug, giving her a small squeeze. "So, three words, how was your first term?"

Entering the Great Hall for the end-of-term feast alongside Tadhg, Dahlia couldn't help but think how different her second year had been from the first. There had been some ups and downs, some tears, some times that she felt like a complete failure and times where she felt on top of the moon with joy and excitement. By no means had this year been a complete breeze, there had been a great deal to overcome and there was still a tremendous amount of work to be done but it was epically better than the last. There was no sense in dwelling in all of that no though.

Smiling softly, she gave Tad's fingers a soft squeeze before letting his hand go. This was where she would walk to her table and he would continue on to his. Bright blue eyes followed him for a brief moment before shifting towards the Staff table, taking note of all who was already there. She then looked for her cousin Reagan at the Gryffindor table and her sister and cousin Jude at the Hufflepuff table. When she had found the three of them she finally went ahead to sit down at her own table.

Making sure to keep tabs on her siblings Lukas, Luna and Elias, giving them all a squeeze on the shoulder as she passed them, she sat down somewhere near the middle of the table. "Hey, everyone. Who's ready for summer?" Lia flashed a bright smile in the direction of Ash, Evan, Ivy and Lisa. She was more than ready to go home and be with her whole family, relax and do all of the things she had on her list.

Seeing Professor Schmoe walk past in his bright blue and bronze attire made her young heart soar! Merlin, she was going to miss him! The way he had looked out for his flock last term and how he just understood them all this term. Their great game of Jenga with Lisa and that super incredible game of Hide & Seek that he gave them permission to play. She raised her hand in a returned salute, her smile trying to stay strong and not sad. Before they feast ended she needed to give something to him.

Dahlia drummed her hands lightly on her knees, humming softly under her breath until Headmaster Trent called everyone's attention. Finally. The speech. She listened quietly to all that was said and once it was over she began to put food onto her plate. She was starving!

She offered her brother a smile which promptly dropped at his question. He expected her to describe everything in JUST THREE WORDS? What an impossible task. She bit her lip, determined not to shy away from said challenge. Lisa opened her mouth to offer her thoughts. “Exciting.”

And she became distracted because she saw another familiar face.

Hey! There was Lia!

Big wave.

Lisa beamed as her friend approached the table. She nodded at Lia’s question. Sure she was excited BUUUUT she wasn’t ready to go home just YET. She needed at least three more weeks of fun. Lisa was one of the kids who def benefited from being given the ten minute warning prior to leaving an amusement park or friend’s house. Leaving Hogwarts and going home meant that she couldn’t see her friends every day which was sad so she did have to remind herself that she could see them over the summer. She’d just have to organize it a tad more. “I’m ready to go home and see family. It would also be nice take a break from homework.” Cause homework. She scrunched her nose. “It will be weird not to see everyone every day.”

The Headmaster then began his speech. She smiled when he mentioned that Ravenclaw had won the House Cup. Lisa was over the moon. She even turned back to her peers, clapping, and offered a confident smirk. “Of course we won! We’re Ravenclaw!” She even puffed out her chest as she spoke.

When the speech was over, she turned back to her brother. “I say this year was .. exciting, emotional, and … uh….” She struggled to find the right word. One that began with E to continue it. “Entertaining?” She blinked at the last word she uttered. She’d have to wordsmith that more.

Ash grinned. “I dunno Lisa. You know I can’t be trusted with fire.” She winked, signaling that she was joking. Everyone knew that she would absolutely love to set things on fire. If Lisa was going to burn things, she wanted to help. Unless she was burning candles. In which case Ash was not interested.

She turned back to Evan. “Megan and Charlie live in my house now. Charlie is a baby and Megan is a lady.” This was her very polite way of saying that her father got a girlfriend and had another kid, and she was not a big fan. She couldn’t fault Charlie though- he was a baby. Ash looked downwards and moodily picked at imaginary food. “It’s my first time even thinking about going to therapy. I think I’ll be fine... I promise I’ll ask for recommendations if I need it.” She wondered if her friends worried about her. She’d be sad if her friends didn’t care at all for her, but she knew that she was... a lot. To handle. So she hoped they didn’t worry too much.

But!!! It was time for the speech. And they had won the house cup! YEAH! She muttered some appropriately celebratory words... well, maybe not appropriate around Lisa, but good enough. ”I’ve never been one to care about points or the house cup, but I do like the color blue. And I bet Schmoe is happy about this. Good for him.” Seeing as he wasn’t coming back. It was sad for her to think about. Sure, she’d probably get over it(ostensibly) like she always did, but right now it felt very bittersweet. Plus, Ash had noticed... three professors whose offices she had visited were gone. Only Kazmi was left, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t die a horrible death between now and next year. It was probably a coincidence, but she was a bit superstitious. Maybe more than a bit. ANYWAY.

All in all, Ash was excited to leave. It wasn’t like her family was great but... Hogwarts was not her home. It was alright for getting an education, but she desperately needed a short break. She would have preferred a long/permanent break, but a short break would have to do.

The next person to come into the Great Hall was Lia and he could spot her and Tadhg entering together. He hadn't spent much time with the Slytherin, but they'd briefly met and hung out at the Treehouse by a chance meeting. He seemed like a good guy, and Dahlia seemed happy so that was really what mattered. Evan smiled back when she joined them all at the table. "Ready enough." As good as it would get with him, really. "What about you? Fun plans?"

Was a challenge of only three words kind of mean? 100%. But challenges in general were fun so he was sticking by it. He watched Lisa as she was clearly contemplating her choices, and couldn't help but give a small smirk when she gave only one word as an answer... and then got distracted. That meant he won, right?

Oh. Ash had new people she didn't know living in her house? That sounded... uncomfortable. Evan had had people he did know and love living in his house last summer and he still didn't do well with it.. so he could hardly imagine. "Hopefully you like them." Hopefully they weren't terrible people. Well... the woman anyways, a baby hadn't had time to develop the feelings to be a terrible people. But that didn't mean babies weren't hard. "If it's... a lot, you can come visit Lisa and I anytime. Our parents like visitors. Though Appa does like to start random light saber duels so." Fair warning. "Okay." It wasn't his place to pry about the therapy, he just wanted her to know the offer was available if she needed. After this term, his opinion of Healers and Therapists and the profession was very low and he himself would only trust an opinion from his Eomma. But if she already had good recommendations than that worked too.

Evan turned his attention to the speech, his smile brightening a bit at the congratulations to House Ravenclaw for their win. He was proud that they had been able to rake in the win for Schmoe. It was a nice send off, no matter how upset he might have been that it was in fact a send off. Schmoe was a good teacher, not perfect, but he was human and he had clearly done his best for them. That was all Evan needed to know he was the best of eggs. He'd be sorely missed.

But now... food! As it appeared, the third year... well, soon to be fourth, eagerly tucked into what was in front of him, piling his plate and digging in. But he paused when his sister started to talk again and turned his attention to her. Apparently he had not won, because she did in fact remember the challenge and gave three answers. "Good choices. Extra points for alliteration with your answer too."

What a Ravenclaw. Proud brother.

Lia gave a beaming smile and a wave right back at Lisa even though they were barely a couple of feet apart. "It's going to be really nice to see everyone once I'm home." Though she was one of the lucky ones. A lot of her siblings and cousins were here at Hogwarts with her so while she missed some of her family, she still got to be with some of them too. "No home is definitely a plus." Not that she really minded all that much. She had a tendency of completing her homework quickly whenever she could. "That..that's the hardest part to get used to again," Lia admitted quietly. Making solid connects and seeing her friends every single day and then not seeing them, that was rough. Not hearing from them was scary too. All she could do was hope that this summer.. she knew what was going on with her friends. "Hopefully we'll see each other over the summer?"

Bright blue eyes shifted from Lisa to Evan. From one Nam sibling to the other. "Umm, I have a few ideas on my list but nothing solid yet. A whole lot of reading, exploring, family time, creature time, some MMA training, music stuff, time with friends.. whatever else comes up." She had a list. It was a long list. Really there was no need to go through everything on it. "Are we still going to hangout?" She had promised him a few things and she hadn't forgotten.

The third year for now couldn't help the amused smile that stole on his face as she launched into a list of what she was thinking of doing for this summer. A rather lengthy list, really, and knowing Dahlia he wouldn't be surprised if she had already scheduled some of it down in her planner as well. "That is a lot of plans. But they sound fun. Is MMA a new thing or....?" That reminded him he could get back into dance as well during the summer. He didn't love it nearly as much as Noah did, but getting to practice with Chase was freeing and a good excuse to get up and move. He'd been considering more classical forms of dance too for the history of it and the dedication it took.

At Lia's confirmation if they were still going to hang out, he nodded. "Yeah, if you still want to. We could still go to Scamander zoo?" Something he'd been looking forward to more than he'd ever actually verbally admit.